The invention relates to a boat launch for pillars of offshore installations.
Offshore installations, in particular wind turbines, must be serviced at regular intervals. For this purpose, a maintenance crew is transferred by boat to the offshore installation. The boat is thus brought close to a boat launch, which is attached to a pillar of such offshore installation. The boat launch consists of two vertical fender pipes. The bow of the boat is typically pushed against the fender pipes, allowing the maintenance crew to climb up a ladder that is located closer to the pillar than the fender pipes. The fender pipes protect the maintenance crew before the pressure exerted by boat to the fender pipes when climbing up the ladder.
Rough seas and the tidal range cause significant friction between the boat and the fender pipes. The stiff fender pipes are made of steel and are covered with an anti-corrosion layer, usually a paint finish capable of withstanding the high mechanical loads and the harsh environment. To protect the fender pipes, fenders are arranged on the mooring boat. These may be rubber buffers that prevent a metallic contact between the boat and the fender pipes. The fender pipes are quickly damaged due to the unavoidable relative movement between the fender pipes and the boats. Early corrosion man be detected despite a protective coating. On the other hand, a very long service life is expected from offshore installations, in particular wind turbines. A service life of 20 years assumes that the boat launches also have a corresponding service life. The foundations of offshore installations, in particular made of steel, have much greater wall thicknesses than the fender pipes so that it can be expected that the fender pipes must be replaced before the end of 20 years. Repeated painting of the fender pipes or replacement of the entire boat launch is possible, but expensive.